This is my absolute favourite cream recipe. It’s rich, it’s luscious, it leaves my skin silky smooth and it can be adapted in numerous ways. Though it has a higher oil content than creams which use emulsifiers and can therefore feel quite oily when applied, my experience is that it sinks in really well when applied to damp skin and doesn’t leave any residue.
In some ways it is the most simple of the recipes and certainly the most natural as it uses no emulsifiers (though the beeswax can help to bind it) and potentially no synthetic preservatives. In other ways it is the most complicated as it requires waters and oils to mix and can take a few tries to get just right, though if you follow these instructions and use good quality ingredients it should turn out well first time.
Other pros include the fact that it is almost edible so fits with that old saying, ‘you shouldn’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t put in your mouth.’ The high oil content makes it great for dry skins or skin conditions – it’s the recipe I used to make my calendula and chamomile cream which you can see here and also this wonderfully protective and strengthening hand cream here. You only need to use a tiny amount so it lasts for ages and it has a lovely look and feel to it.
Cons are that it can be more expensive to make than many other creams (which have a high amount of water and only a little infused oil or butters) and it will not last that long if you don’t add a preservative. Also it can be too rich for some people who like very light creams or have oily skins. Finally this recipe requires a fairly decent blender, it doesn’t have to be top of the range but if it’s a very cheap one you may find it hard to keep the motor running for long and have to add small amounts of water at a time, turning the blender off in between which can increase the chances of it separating.
N.B. Being in Europe I do my measurements in grams rather than ounces. I hope that is not a problem for those in the US, there are online conversion charts or if that is confusing let me know and I will attempt to convert it myself for you.
Ingredients: (variations in brackets)
Waters
250ml Herbal infusion or floral water (or 200 ml waters with 50ml aloe vera juice)
1 tsp vegetable glycerine
Oils
175ml herbal infused oil (or plain base oil)
75g Coconut oil (or a mixture of coconut and cacao)
25g beeswax
Extras
5ml vitamin E
2.5ml Essential oil
Method:
Melt your beeswax and butters in a bain marie or double boiler, then add the liquid oils and allow to become completely liquified, like so.
Pour these oils into your blender and allow to cool.
Whilst that is happening mix together the waters. You can use just floral water but the glycerine does add an extra silkiness. Aloe vera is great to add for sensitive skins or use herbal tea cooled to room temperature (make it double strength) for additional therapeutic value.
After a short while, depending how warm your room is, the oils should turn from this…
To this…
Like in the picture below, it will appear to be setting but when you move the jug you see that it is still liquid though much thicker than when you first poured it in. Don’t let it over solidify, though there may be a small amount on the sides that is set. If so just get a small spatula or wooden chopstick and scrape it down – don’t worry if it looks a bit lumpy at this stage.
Now turn the blender on to a lowish speed and start to pour the waters in in a slow trickle. If the blender gets stuck turn it off, scrap the sides down with a spatula and turn it back on again adding a bit more of the water part at a time till the full amount is incorporated. After which the cream should look like this.
Mix in the vitamin E and essential oils of choice by hand and pour into suitable jars.
Spoon the last bits in then use a chopstick to swirl the top so it looks like the icing on a cupcake.
This recipe contains no preservatives but if you would like it to last longer than a month you will need to add one. As it has a higher oil to water ratio compared to most creams it will last much longer however the inclusion of any water in a recipe makes it susceptible to bacteria. If you live in a warmer climate it would be advisable to store it in the fridge. I have never had mine go off and I’ve kept jars for a few months but I live in a cool climate. Also it is good to be aware that creams can be going off before they show visible signs of doing so.
You would need to add add a synthetic preservative if you wanted to ensure your creams lasted longer or were planning on selling them. (See part I of this series for more information on preservatives.) I would say if you are just making them for gifts, then keep them lovely and all natural but be sure to use them up quickly.
Wow! Wow! beautiful Lucinda. Definitely will try this especially since I already have all the ingredients at home, I am thinking of halving it though seems like a lot. Also I would try it in my food processor.
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Yes you could try halving it, though if the base of your food processor is quite wide you may need the larger amount to get a good blending action. I have never tried in the food processor but I imagine it would work really well. I’ll have to try it to and we can compare notes. Good luck!
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Wow looks incredible! amazing as xmas gifts in pretty glass jars wrapped up with ribbon etc! are you doing that? x x x x
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Something like that yes! I’m doing a few bigger pots in nice jars and then some mini ones to go into little sets with cleansers, toners, face oils and other bits. Are you making any presents this year?
xxx
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Do you suppose grapefruit seed extract could work as a preservative instead of something synthetic? That way you could still keep it natural and allow it to keep for longer period of time. 🙂 I love that you posted this right now because making a cream has been on my mind lately, thank you!
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Hi Zane,
I mentioned grapefruit seed, grape seed and rosemary extracts in the ingredients section of my last past. There is a lot of research suggesting problems with grapefruit seed extract, it’s worth having a read, there is information available online. The other two would both work to prolong the shelf life as they are anti-oxidants and anti-bacterial but according to cosmetic testing companies they are not enough for a cream that is legally saleable. This is where the conundrum is for we who prefer things all natural! As I’m not selling them commercially then I never use synthetic preservatives but if I was, it is something I might have to consider. If you’re just making for friends and family then grape seed or rosemary extract should be fine.
I hope you cream making does well. 🙂
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Oh My Goodness, this batch looks absolutely yummy!!! I am like so anxious to try this recipe. I do have a blender and all the ingredients, but Lucinda, would it still work if I used a hand mixer? Or would that be more work/too cumbersome? I’m not much of a blender person, but feel like an expert with the hand mixer!!! (I wonder if that’s another part of my control issue!) Anyways, I will definitely try it and with the blender. Thanks so much in advance for taking the time to share your knowledge. I’s thrilled I found your blog/site.
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Hi Irma,
I have used a hand blender before and it came out fine but you might need to half the recipe depending on the size of the container you have. Hand blenders are so convenient aren’t they. I have heard it said that the blender is the modern witches cauldron and I could’t agree more! It’s the one piece of equipment I would feel lost without. 🙂
Let me know how you get on.
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I just wanted to say that being lucky enough to have a pot of this cream (thank you Lucinda!) I really can’t praise it highly enough. So for those of you thinking of making some, do do do! It is absolutely beautiful to use, the texture is comforting and luxurious, the fragrance is delicious (mine is Rose and Tilia) and applied to damp skin as suggested, it sinks in and leaves my skin feeling super soft and moisturised all day, such a godsend in this cold weather for a Rosacea sufferer! After years of trying everything from plain E45 cream to Dr Hauschka’s Rose Day cream I feel I finally have something my skin loves and I love to use. Thank you again Lucinda and may you never stop creating beautiful products! With love and peachy skin, Rachel Xx
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Ooo thank you Rachel for your kind words! I am glad you are loving the cream and that you skin is feeling perfectly peachy!
Lots of love xxx
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Very inspiration and I love the step by step photos. It will definitely influence my play in a couple of weeks!
– Michael
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Great, I hope all goes well. I love your crow photo by the way!
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I am so doing this Sunday, when I have the day to myself to play in the kitchen! I have both the infused oils and actually make a salve with both chamomile and calendula infused oils and beeswax, which I made “loose” so it goes on smoothly and not too thick, but I have been wishing to try creams, and even bought a second hand blender just for that purpose. I just was always unsure of it, and didn’t want to “waste” the oils. With your generous sharing, I now feel confident to try my hand at it xxx Will be the perfect addition to the herbal pampering baskets I want to give out at the holidays! Thank you also for sharing how to make the little swirl on top:D herbal and honey hugs and much love to you!
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I know what you mean. I messed up a few times before developing this variation and hated wasting my precious ingredients so I tried to use them anyway, even though they were separated. 🙂 Needless to say i enjoy them so much more now.
Let me know how it goes.
Lots of love to you and all the wonderful cats xxxx
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Oooh such beautiful looking creams! And I love all your colorful jars too 🙂 I’ve never tried making a recipe like this without an emulsifier – I fell in love with Rosemary’s recipe years back and haven’t done anything else since. I guess its probably time to branch out and be a little more adventurous huh! If I get done my other tasks for the day, I think I might treat myself to a little cream making later on 🙂
Love to you,
D
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Hey Danielle,
What type of emulsifiers do you usually use? I hope you get chance to try this one out and enjoy the results.
Happy Sunday to you 🙂 xxxx
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As I type this, my beeswax and jojoba butter are melting on the hob for my variation on your gorgeous second cream recipe – I’m using rosewater and plain sweet almond oil for this batch as it is a trial run, but if it works out well (and I suspect it will since its one of your recipes) then I am going to have a go at making chamomile infused oil to add to it 😀 In fact, I might have a go at chamomile and rose infused oil this afternoon just for the fun of it… rainy days stuck indoors are kinda fun at the moment 😀
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Hey Ali, how did you get on? I hope they turned out beautifully and you are now happily smearing yourself with cream!
Chamomile infused oil is one of my absolute favourite oils. I think I’m addicted to chamomile in general at the moment. I knew it had got bad when I found myself sucking on the tea bag at work after I’d finished my mug of chamomile tea!
Let me know how you get on and if you have any queries. 🙂
xx
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This looks fascinating – I think I’m going to need to try it.
Thank you for posting this.
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I was just curious isn’t vitamin E a preservative? This cream looks lucius I look forward to whipping it up.
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Hi Trisha,
Vitamin E is an antioxidant so it will prevent oils from going rancid but it is not a preservative in the broader sense as it is not anti-microbial so wont protect against bacteria or moulds.
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Hi, very well formulated recipe! Can’t wait to try it! How long would this cream last in the fridge?
Again, beautiful!
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Hi Alyssa,
I would expect it to last a couple of months but shelf time can vary a lot depending on the ingredients you use. For example if you use pure spring water or floral water it would last longer than if you use tap water or herbal teas as your water part. I have had creams last 6 months out of the fridge before but then others that start to smell a bit different after three. I have usually used all mine up before they go off though so just make a smaller quantity if you don’t think you’ll use it all.
Hope that helps, sorry it’s a bit vague!
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I just made this cream and it turned out perfect! I used soy wax, so the color was slightly lighter, and the consistency is a little closer to lotion (maybe because I just finished making it, and the blender got a little warm). I used orange essential oil and grapefruit, bergamont floral water so the fragrance is very summer-like with the coconut oil. I love it! Thanks for the info.
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Great, I’m so glad you found it useful. Your cream sounds divine. 🙂
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HI Lucinda,
Hope you are well! This cream is still my favourite from our workshop day : )
Laura
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Hi Lucinda,
I made this recipe a few days ago – it’s the first time I’ve tried to make a cream and I’m really happy with how it turned out! Though I found the water has started separating from the oils – do you have any ideas for how to prevent this from happening in future?
Thanks,
Jolie
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Hi Jolie,
The only times I have had a problem with separation have been mostly because the oils weren’t cooled in the blender first.. Another possibility is there were still little bits of unemulsified water in the blender at the sides or the bottom, to rectify this you need to scrape down the sides and mix well with a spatula before blending again. The other is if the cream is chilled at too low a temperature in which case it can go a little grainy almost, with tiny water droplets separating out. I don’t know if that could have been the case with you? You could try warming the pot in a dish of hot water and mixing vigorously but this doesn’t always work.
Sometimes it takes a few tries to get just right anyway.
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It may have been a combination of the oils not being cool enough (I let them cool, but could have left them a bit longer) and the cream getting too cold (it’s winter now where I am and one jar of cream started solidifying when I left it in the bathroom!).
Anyway, thanks for your help Lucinda – I’m really looking forward to trying it again!
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Dear lucinda,
I am very very happy with how this turned out. It does seperate a little when i put it in the fridge but if i stir around a bit its just fine!!!when i use it for about 20 mins my skin is a bit red like a slight hyperemia on the cheeks. Have u come across something like this? I didnt have. Calendula so i used a mallow instead. Could that be the reason?
Thank you so much,
Lucinda
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Hi Lucinda,
Hmm I haven’t come across it making anyones skin red, though it certainly seems to give it a bit of a glow. I have a few people with very sensitive skin using it and they haven’t reported any redness though I will have to quiz them further.
Marshmallow is generally very soothing and anti-inflammatory so it would surprise me if that was causing the problem but everyone is different so it is hard to be sure.
Are you using completely pure essential oils?
Sorry I can’t be more help but without looking at all the ingredients you are using it is hard to say.
Perhaps try messing around with the ingredients a bit and seeing if it helps at all.
Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.
Lucinda x
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Dear Lucinda,
Thanks for the reply.
At the moment i am using it without essential oils.
I used herbal infusions of chamomile and mallow, and my base oils were almond, coconut and rosehip.
My skin is actually very sensitive, but besides the rosie cheeks, it doesnt give me any irittations and that is a relief!
I will be making a new bach soon and will also try the balm!!! Thank you for all the lovely recipes! Very inspirational!
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The issue could be the rosehip seed oil. I read that it is not only capable of causing allergic reactions in some, but it’s also much more susceptible to oxidation, and other changes that cause the oil to change and even spoil quickly. I would leave out the rosehip seed oil, and perhaps add Rose essential oil if you like that scent, or even choose a rose water.
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I am so glad there was another response to this cream making recipe, because it got me to re-read things. i have made this recipe 3 or 4 times now, and it has stayed blended only once (though it is still my FAVORITE cream). I just realized that I have not tried scraping down the sides of the blender while making it; I will try this. I have made it with various oils and waters, but not calendula or mallow: I think my favorite so far is scented with lavendar and rosemary essential oils – love, love, love it! Kathy
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Hi Kathy.
Umm I bet the rosemary and lavender cream is wonderful!
Are you making sure the oils are well cooled before blending in the waters? That is usually the problem if ever mine separate.
I’m glad you are enjoying it though. 🙂
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Hi Lucinda, I live in Florida (US) so it is pretty warm much of the time, even with air conditioner. I also have hurried the cream a little, so will take my time next time. This is now the only face and body cream my husband and I use, and my daughter has also made it for her family. Thanks again!
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Hi Lucinda!! This is my first time in your blog and I am absolutely fascinated!!!! Are you a chemist? because I am… and You use some tricks that I usually do thinking of oils and waters properties. I have experienced with emulsions and the trick is temperature!!! just like you said…it´s necesary that both fases (acuous and oleous) are at similar temperature. So you can heat the waters/herbal teas a little and I think it will certainly create the emulsion without problems. I started to enjoy this homemade cosmetics world due to my very very sensitive and allergic skin. I made some products for family and clients, but I always need to use preservatives because here, in Venezuela, the weather is hot. However, when I make gifts, I use tiny jars that ensure total consumption of cream within 3 months.
I will try your wonderful recipe, but I need to plan what kind of herbal or floral infusions I will use.
Thanks for sharing your experience step by step.
Best regards,
Dorly
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Hi Dorly,
No I am not a chemist so it’s great to hear from you and know this is the same trick that you use. I have just learnt through trial and error.
Yes I imagine in Venezuela they wouldn’t last long without preservatives, I guess there have to be some pros to living in a cold climate!
Let me know how you get on with the creams. If you have sensitive skin infusions of chamomile, rose or calendula might be nice to try.
Take care,
Lucinda
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Hi Lucinda!! I would first like to say that your website brings an overwhelming calm over me, I can not even describe it. I can picture you speaking with an accent and it just hits the spot for me! I just made this cream for the first time and I am obbsessed with it! As for the oils, I mixed coconut oil with jojoba and grapeseed oil. The liquids, I steeped 4 times the amount of chamomile in half a cup of water with rosemary and thyme…love the soothing effect it has on my blemishes. I then added rose water and aloe vera juice as well. I added lavender oils, mint oils, and lemon for the scent…only thing is it seems a bit too liquidy where your pictures have a more whipped type of look. Any pointers?
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Hi Yana, that is wonderful to hear. 🙂
Your cream ingredients sound beautiful, it must smell amazing!
The only thing I can imagine is that you didn’t add quite enough beeswax or there was a little too much water. Sometimes measuring equipment can vary a bit (despite being supposedly standard!) so I’d suggest next time just adding a little less water or a little more wax and seeing how it turns out. Perhaps if you live in a very warm climate it could be preventing it setting too.
Sorry I can’t be more help, it’s hard to know without seeing in person.
x
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Thank you so much Lucinda, I don’t know how I missed this earlier!! Less water and more wax did the trick, I have the perfect batch, I am so happy about it! Finding your recipe was truly fate:) Hope you are doing well, take care!
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Hi Lucinda,
I just stumbled across your blog and have been browsing for a couple of hours now. Thank you for sharing your skills!
I have just come back from a very long and very costly appointment with a herbalist, because my fiance has severe eczema and nothing seems to be soothing it!
GOOD TIP: He made us up a simple mix of vegetable glycerin and peppermint oil, which has worked wonders for the itching!!
But there wasnt much else, besides advice on what foods to avoid.
I wanted to try and make a cream or salve which is nourishing and easily absorbed by the skin.
I would like to try and make this cream and luckily I already have most of the ingredients at home, but can it be made without beeswax?
Myself and my fiance are vegan so we normally avoid beeswax.
If there is not an alternative; we will use beeswax for medicinal purposes, but I just wondered if it could be replaced with a vegan alternative.
Metala
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Hi Metala,
l have made this cream several times with soy wax and it works fine. Mine is a little more of a lotion consistency, which is great because I put it in a squeeze bottle. I LOVE this recipe, and have stopped buying lotions and face moisturizers alltogether. Thanks, Lucinda!
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Thanks for that Kathy! 🙂 I have only ever made this with beeswax as it tends to emulsify better. Apart from some local bee products I am also vegan so I’ll be interested by how you get on. I’ll try the soy wax version sometime too! You could also try candellia wax but I haven’t tried it myself to advise you on how it will turn out.
Good luck with the cream for your fiance. There are lots of lovely herbs and oils that can help eczema. Try adding some nourishing oils like hemp and rosehip and lovely infused herbs like calendula, chamomile, lavender etc.
Take care.
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Thanks for this recipe and details for making, I will be trying it this evening. Do you know if this would be the correct base for an exfoliator?
I tried to make an exfoliator using air dried bilberry but it seperated at the end, do you have any experience of this? Thanks Lucinda, this is such a helpful site!
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Hi Layla,
This is quite a rich base cream so I’m not sure it would work that well for an exfoliator. The exfoliators I have made all use more of an oil or glycerine and oil base. I’m not sure exactly what you are wanting to make though.
Without knowing what recipe you followed it is hard to say why it separated.
if you let me know some more details I will try to help if I can.
All the best.
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Hi Lucinda! I have a question about putting aloe Vera juice into my face cream. Do you use organic aloe Vera juice? Because aloe Vera juices I see in stores have preservatives in them and I don’t want to put that on my face! Some organic ones online have citric acid on them is that safe on the face?
Also I have these carrier oils at home: jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, argon oil and coconut oil.and essential oils of lavender geranium ylang ylang and patchouli. Would it be okay to mix those all together for a dry skin with acne cream? And do you know anything about those essential oils I have Maybe I shouldn’t add certain ones in?
Thanks so much I look forward to ur reply!
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Hi Avery,
I would avoid heavier oils like olive for an acne prone skin as they can be clogging and stick to the lighter oils like coconut or grapeseed and jojoba which, though quite rich, is easily absorbed by the skin. You may find this cream too rich and prefer something without the beeswax but if your skin is dry it may be just the thing.
Patchouli and lavender are great for skins prone to acne, both are anti-microbial and patchouli is astringent. Geranium and Ylang Ylang are both balancing on sebum production so would also be useful for skin that is both dry and prone to spots.
The aloe is a tricky one. I get an organic one that is 99.9% pure aloe and just has a very small amount of a safe and fairly natural preservative in it. Most in the shops have various gelling agents and preservatives in so you have to look around. The only way to get 100% pure is to harvest it from your own plants and use immediately but I don’t grow enough aloes for this to be feasible.
Take care and good luck with your making!
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alright thanks so much i wont add the olive oil. i heard coconut oil can be clogging too so i might leave that out! ill stick too jojoba sweet almond, grapeseed and vitamine e. i read grapeseed dries out skin tho so maybe ill just add a bit of it. and the essential oils ill just add a couple drops each? it seems they are all astringent though wouldnt that dry out my face more? or becuase i have butters and oils they will moisturize my face while the essential oils stop the acne?
also i have shea butter and cocoa butter i was going to add but i read cocoa butter is comodegenic so ill proly just add shea butter?
what does the ph of the finished product have to be? a lady told me “It is the combination of ingredients that keep them all stable and the ph of the finished product, and the sterile technique used while creating the product” this sounds so complicated
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That’s interesting, I have always found coconut oil to be light and easily absorbed and shea butter to be much more clogging. And though grapeseed is light it shouldn’t dry your skin out.
I understand that much information is conflicting which is why there is no match for personal experience. What I did when I wanted to understand more about the base oils and found the info out there to be insufficient or confusing was sit down with a selection of oils and apply them to my skin for several days, then try others. With many it was obvious immediately which suited me and which didn’t and I learnt much more than from a book. Rub some coconut in to your skin and some shea butter in another area, you’ll know which one you prefer pretty quickly.
Don’t worry about how complicated it seems. just try some things out. 🙂
None of the essential oils you mention should dry your skin out in small quantities. Why not make up the cream without the essential oils, pour it into small pots and add a couple of drops of different oils or combinations to each one, then you can try them all and decide which suits you best.
Cream making can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be. The exact Ph is important when using some of the emulsifiers and preservatives but I have never tested the ph of this particular cream and never had any problems with it.
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Hi, your blog for making hand cream is fantastic I have ordered the ingredients I don’t have and wait eagerly to try it out.
The job I have involves washing my hands numerous times a day and really takes its toll on my poor skin so I get through a lot of hand creams but I find that they either smell nice or work well, so I’ve decided to try and make my own and your recipe looks perfect for what I’m after. I was wondering, do you know if it would drastically affect the ingredients if I froze them? As I can only carry a little at work with me at a time I was thinking of making a batch, putting it into small containers and freezing them then taking one out every so often. Thank you, Zoë
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Hi Zoe,
Well I can honestly say I have never tried to freeze it so I can’t be sure but I imagine it might separate a bit as the fats and water will freeze at different rates.
You could try putting in a small amount of a safe preservative. It’s always nicer to make things completely naturally but you only use a few drops and it does make things more practical. Otherwise you have to use it all up fairly quickly. I mentioned a few different preservatives in this post here:
All the best and I hope it goes well!
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Hi, Lucinda. I just stumbled across your blog and I’m excited to bring so many of your wonderful thoughts and influences into my daily life. Thank you for the time and effort you put into your posts.
Can’t wait to try your cream recipe. I tire of the endless creams that only accentuate my rosacea and $$ wasted. Any specific ingredient suggestions for rosacea sufferers?
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Hi Pegi,
I have made this for a few people with rosacea and usually use a combination of rose water (make sure its a pure one) and strong tea of lime blossom (that’s linden flower in the US) as the water part along with the aloe vera. Then I use rose or calendula in apricot oil which is a lovely base oil for sensitive skins. If you can’t find or don’t want to make infused oil on its own then just stick with plain apricot. As the solid fat coconut oil is best as it is cooling. Rose essential oil is expensive but makes a wonderful anti-inflammatory addition.
Hope that’s helpful. All the best.
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I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for the reply and suggestions. Can you also suggest a reputable supplier in the US?
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Pegi,
I am in the US and there are many great places to shop from, but I happen to be sitting here with Mountain Rose Herbs catalog alongside me! http://www.mountainroseherbs.com
You should find what you need there and they believe in ORGANIC!!! : )
(…hope you don’t mind me answering, Lucinda!)
and Lucinda~
… LOVE that I just found your site! wonderful!!! I was the winner of this recipe of Rose Cream from another blogger/herbalist that obtained it from you. I am thrilled as is everyone else that tries it! I esp loved that someone else had made it and I could easily find whether I loved it or not without going to the time and expense of trial and error as I would have to with so many other recipes! Fantabulous, esp with our single digit temps, drying the skin, which is happening right now! : )
I can’t wait to see what else is on your site!!!!
Thanks for sharing and Blessings galore!
ti
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Wonderful, thank you for that Ti! And Pegi, I’m so sorry for not replying sooner, I missed this somehow.
I have never bought any ingredients from the US suppliers as I am in the UK here but the one I do hear recommended a lot is Mountain Rose Herbs so that sounds like a good place to start.
I’m so glad you like the cream Ti and it’s always nice to try things before you buy loads of ingredients that just end up sitting on the shelf isn’t it.
With love to you both x
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Thanks so much, Lucinda, for sharing your knowledge and experience freely! I have had fun experimenting with this cream recipe and my family has been very pleased with the results. I used rose infused oil, beeswax from my neighbor who is a beekeeper, and aloe vera gel mixed with camomile tea for one recipe, and another similar one with lavender oil. I blended the ingredients in a food processor using the whipping attachment so the cream is lovely and fluffy. I found that it worked better not to cool down the wax/oil mixture before blending with the waters–adding the waters cools it enough, and when I cooled it beforehand, the mixture separated.
I look forward to trying more of your recipes and suggestions!
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Hi Gina,
Your recipes sound beautiful! That’s so interesting that you found it better not to let it cool too much. I always find that if I don’t, that is when it separates. Maybe it is to do with the different equipment we are using. Or perhaps your water part is hotter when you are blending.
Thanks for sharing your experience as it’s great to hear what works for different people.
All the best.
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Is it ok to say I love you even though I don’t know you? How have I managed to not find this site until now!! I usually have to go through umpteen sites and compare the info I find…..you have so much info and so many variations, everything I need is on your site. I never thought you could make a cream without adding additions eg e.wax. Thank you so much for sharing. By the way do I have to use the beewax and should I keep it in the fridge to stop it separating? Keep up the good work girl. Ooooohhhhhh and also, can I add manuka to it?
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Hi Latoy,
Yes it is and thank you very much! 🙂
You do really need the beeswax in this recipe because it is the ingredient that helps hold everything together. You don’t need to put it in the fridge but if you live in a warm climate it is wise to do so and will increase the shelf life. Let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge though or it will actually separate more easily.
Take care and thanks for your lovely comment.
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Forgot to say that manuka would be a lovely addition. Just a little though or it might end up a bit sticky!
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I tried this recipe and it’s PERFECT!!! I absolutely loooove the cream! but I made a smaller quantity, so I found out (the hard way) that a stick blender works better with smaller amounts. I’m trying it again today, but using home made coconut milk instead of floral water. thanx so much for the recipe!
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Oo wow, it sounds divine with homemade coconut milk. I might have to give that a go. 🙂
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Hi Lucinda,
This cream is beautiful. I used an electric handheld mixer instead of blender. Do you think it’s yields the same amount to a blender? I love the consistency and how easy a mixer is to clean rather then blender, but am curious if it doesn’t pump quite the same amount of air?
Love to hear your reply,
Summer
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Hi Summer,
Well I haven’t ever done it with a mixer so I can’t be sure but I would guess that the amount is similar as it doesn’t get that light and fluffy in the blender. At some point I will have to experiment and give you a proper answer! 🙂
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For those who’d like a wee bit more information, beeswax is not an emulsifier; it’s a thickener. The only way it could be used as an emulsifier is if it’s mixed with borax.
Grape seed extract, grapefruit seed extract and rosemary extracts are not classified as ‘preservatives’, but merely help prevent oils from going rancid a little sooner than they normally would.
Highly recommend looking up Swiftcraftymonkey’s ‘Point of Interest’ blog; what she doesn’t know about chemistry in creating skin and hair care products, isn’t worth knowing 🙂
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Thank you Jaime for your input. Beeswax does have a very slight binding action which is why I mention it in the post but this is a cream recipe without emulsifier as you will see in the title. There are some possible safety considerations with borax according to some sources so I don’t use it in this recipe which is an attempt to make a cream with ingredients that are as minimally processed as possible.
This post is also meant to be read in conjunction with the previous one (part 1) in which I explain that grape seed, grapefruit seed and rosemary are antioxidants rather than preservatives as such, meaning they help to stop oils from oxidising, i.e. going rancid.
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Actually, Jamie is correct, Lucinda. Beeswax has no emulsification abilities whatsoever, and so, with this particular product, a great deal of mechanical agitation needs to be used in order to try to get the water-in-oils to adhere together, which means it won’t last very long before it all begins to separate.
I would also be concerned that there’s no preservation system in this product containing water and in that matter, again, Jamie is correct in his/her comments. Some research really should have been done before presenting this to the general public.
As far as Borax goes, in reality, it’s a natural mineral required by the human body to stay healthy, banish arthritis, and generally keep bones in good condition. It carries no harm to humans whatsoever. I believe I read in one paper that roughly 4g per day is considered optimal, but that the soil in the majority of developed countries is seriously depleted of sodium borate (aka sodium tetraborate or disodium tetraborate), leading to food being deficient and hence, our diets. In fact, for centuries it’s been used as both an internal and external medicine.
Drug companies, however, feared it would render their entire industry useless and so set about creating horror stories with fabricated pseudo-science to frighten the average Joe out of using it, bribing or demanding certain, greedy, Western governments to do the same in the process.
Our world is, after all, about protecting profits, but one doesn’t need to take my word for it – one can take the time do their own research.
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I understand your concerns Ronald but I have addressed these points previously. This recipe contains no emulsifier or preservative.
I have made this recipe more times than I can count and the only times it has separated are when exposed to heat fluctuations. It can be tricky as I have explained in the post but it works very well with the right method.
It does not contain a preservative in an attempt to make a cream that is as close to food state as possible, therefore it will of course degrade much quicker than a shop bought cream and is designed to be used quickly rather than kept on the shelf. I have expressed clearly in the post that it would need a preservative if someone was looking to sell it.
This post is not designed for those wishing to make commercial products but for those who wish to make a simple recipe for home use only that is easy to achieve in one’s own kitchen. I am a herbalist not a cosmetic chemist and make no pretence to be otherwise.
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Dear Lucinda – Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I live in South Africa were I can’t seem to get a hold of emulsifiers except borax (and I certainly don’t want to use that 😉 ). I made your cream last week, after some ingredient hunting, and I love it! Thanx again, now I can finally make my own custom creams.
P.S – my friends love it too!
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Wonderful. Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
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Hi Lucinda, what a great blog, I am feeling very inspired reading your posts. I have a question regarding creams. If I wanted to make a facial cleansing cream, would I go about making it in the same way as a face cream, but swopping up the ingredients for oils and waters that have more of a cleaning property to them?
thank you,
Liz
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Hi Elizabeth,
I usually use a balm for cleansing with coconut oil so I haven’t actually tried this as a cleanser but there is no reason it shouldn’t work, it just might be a bit rich in which case one of the other recipes might work better. Rich creams can be quite nice for cleansing but you need a cloth and warm water to remove them rather than just cotton wool. x
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Lucinda,
What gives your cream that rich “yellowy” color? Still loving all your yummy recipes. I am giving your elderberry syrup a shot soon. With the fall coming, my son always starts that horrible cough. Your photo’s are beautiful… and so are you! Thanks for all your loveliness!
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Ahh thanks so much for your lovely words Summer. 🙂
The colour depends on the base oils used. I usually add some rosehip seed oil, vitamin E and/ or calendula oil to a recipe which all lend a deeper colour. Sometimes when I make cream with German Chamomile essential oil which is deep blue it makes the cream a bit grey which isn’t so nice!
I hope the elderberry syrup helps your son. I have a recipe for a chest balm here: https://whisperingearth.co.uk/2010/10/29/using-essential-oils-for-immune-support/ and a cough syrup here: https://whisperingearth.co.uk/2012/10/31/herbal-cough-syrup/ which might also be nice for him. xx
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Hi I am really keen to try this recipe but as I am a total novice, could you clarify your recipe please? You say to use coconut oil and cacao butter (75g) but you dont say how much of each to make up the 75g? Also could you substitute shea butter for the cacao or would it not work the same? I love your blog by the way!
Sunny
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Hi Sunny,
I usually use the 75g coconut oil but if you wanted to do a mixture you can really add them in any proportions you wish but I would probably stick to half and half to start with and see how it goes. Coconut oil is lighter so I would definitely do at least half to stop it being to heavy. If you wanted to use shea butter you could try 40g coconut and 35g shea. I imagine that would make it really nice and rich and creamy.
Most of these things are a bit about trial and error but that is what I would start with. Good luck! 🙂
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Thank you so much for replying Lucinda ! I am going to order some oils and make this cream as soon as they arrive. I will let you know how it goes ! I find your website one of the best I have come across for explaining homemade cream recipes . I really want to get away from shop bought products so I’m excited to try my first ever cream!
Best wishes 🙂
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Great, yes do let me know how you get on. 🙂
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Lucinda darling where do you get your pretty pink jars from?
I have always bought my jars from Baldwins and as lovely as they are
only come in clear, brown and black.
Oh and by the way I’m experimenting with a little somthin somthin at the moment. If it works out Ile be posting you the method.
Have a great month x
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They are lovely aren’t they. They are only available in bulk sizes but you can get them here: http://www.colouredbottles.co.uk/jarscosmetic.php Sometimes you can get mixed boxes of different colours and sizes which is great and means you don’t have to buy 50 jars if you don’t need them. I am looking forward to hearing about your experiments! 🙂 xx
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Thank you soooo much! This recipe really did work well. I did end up adding a very small bit more of beeswax and coconut oil, but I think it was unnecessary at the end. I just left my vitamix on and allowed it to blend on the lowest speed for a while, and it eventually emulsified. I’ve heard that you can emulsify with lecithin (I’m hoping for non-gmo sunflower lecithin), and will try that someday. Also, I’ve heard that a great naturally derived preservative is “Leucidal Liquid” (derived from one of the lactic acid bacteria found during the creation of kimchi). I haven’t tried it myself, but just thought I’d share if you’re ever wondering about a good preservative :)! I’ve only read positive reviews on it, so it seems promising. Once again, thank you! I will be making this recipe again.
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Hi Mint, thank you for your feedback and recommendations. I haven’t heard of that preservative, I will look into it! I’m glad you enjoyed the cream. 🙂
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Just found you- so helpful and inspiring. It’s been a long held ambition of mine to make natural skin care after having a job selling all kinds of commercial creams on the TV. I now have the time. Do you think it’s possible to make a small business work doing this? And- do you run any courses in the UK? I’d love to come and learn from you. Very best wishes. Patricia
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Hi Patricia,
Yes I certainly think you could make a small business work selling beautifully crafted natural skin care products. It is great to have lovely alternatives to commercial products easily available. I teach courses in East Sussex mostly but sometimes travel to do them elsewhere.
All the best.
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Thanks for working out this recipe. I thought I would make up a batch and write a review of my experience with it as a thank-you and for those considering making their own version of it,
I used chamomile infusion, a mix of argan, olive and avocado oils, and subbed out 25g of the 75g coconut oil with shea butter.
I also added 25 drops frankencense essential oil (great for skin) and 14 drops chamomile roman essential oil (ditto), and 10 drops sweet orange oil (for scent, but please note this oil is photosensitising and should be used with care by those who see the sun a lot).
Using a hand blender (catering quality so good strong engine and can run for a long time), the batch took half an hour to make, with 50 min cooling time for the oil. Mixed for probably 12-15 minutes solid with all ingredients close to room temperature and identical to each other in temperature.
Smells wonderful, goes on easily on dry skin as well as wet skin, and leaves a feeling of a light mantle of moisturiser present, but this is pleasant. Ever so slightly sticky, I find it easier to use this on face and body rather than hands. After applying to your hands, run them under warm water for a moment and dry. This leaves your hands feeling moisturised but not at all greasy.
Makes a wonderful cream as a base for mineral makeup, too.
This is a reliable recipe as long as you stick to the rules about temperature and speed of adding waters. Most lotions/creams require emulsifiers like emulsifying wax, emulsimulse, etc, and it is a delight to find a recipe without these that works.
Thank you, do go try it, and enjoy!
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Thanks so much for sharing that Alison. It is great to get feedback and your version of the recipe sounds delightful!
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Hi Lucinda. You have a beautiful blog and you seem to be answering all my questions so far! Just recently bought more oils to experiment making creams as before i was doing all oil based. I was wondering whether i can do this recipie without the vegetable glycerine? And if i use an emulsifier which would you reccommend the safest. Would i have to use beeswax as well as an emulsifier? Thank you so much!
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Hi Tia, Yes no problem at all to remove the glycerine. The beeswax isn’t really a true emulsifier, it just has a little bit of emulsifying property. You need it to thicken the cream really, otherwise it will be very runny. If you wanted to use an emulsifier then I would use emulsifying wax or the VE/ MF combination. If you go to the ‘how to make’ page on the top menu bar you will find recipes for those too. All the best. 🙂
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Thank you very much for this detailed instruction. I was pretty sure that I cannot get a creamy emulsion without emulsifier, so I use serums (if emulsified then only with lecithin, the only emulsifier that does not make zits galore) topped with shea butter. I recently started mixing shea butter with hyaluronic acid 50:50 but I often got a grainy butter with HA droplets when I overmixed it. And it was more like a salve – pretty hard and I had to rub it well into my skin and it’s not a great idea to rub anything under eyes if you’re over 35.
Today, though I’ve read thousand times that it’s impossible to get an emulsion with a regular beeswax, I googled it again, this time “shea without emulsifier” and I got your helpful instruction – wait till the oil phase sets a bit and add water phase slowly. Aha!
I came up with a following recipe:
9% beeswax
40% shea butter
9% cotton seed oil
melted and then I waited and I then I slowly added a mixture of:
1% vitamin E
1% essential oils (chamomille and cedarwood)
5% glycerine (actually I used kid’s vitamin C in glycerine)
5% panthenol
10% green tea leaf water
20 hyaluronic acid (the cheaper version: 1% solution of high molecule weight)
I overmixed it just a little bit 🙂 It seems better than my shea & HA mix, it’s like a warm but light duvet over my skin.
I have two questions however.
1. As I’m not sure if my skin likes that much beeswax everyday, I wonder would the cream be very different if I used just 58% of shea butter. Cotton oil just balances beeswax thickness, so maybe? Have you tried without wax?
2. My cream was almost as soft as any regular one bought at the chemist’s but after an hour it hardened. I have to press my finger hard – it’s like a butter straight from the fridge. Does your cream stays “pourable”? I’d like to attain a consistency of a thick cream not a cold butter. I guess I will have to experiment but 50 grams goes a long way
But I can finally make body butters, yay!
There’s a life without emulsifiers! Thank you so much for sharing!
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Hi Magdalena,
I’m glad you found it helpful. I have never done it without the wax, I think you might have difficulty getting it to emulsify properly but it’s worth a try. My version stays a cream and does not become a butter, I think it must be because of the liquid ingredients you use. Did any liquid separate out of your cream or did the whole thing just harden?
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The whole thing just hardened, but it melts easily. I’ve tried to calculate your recipe’s oil phase and wax percentage and assuming 10 grams of cotton oil is 11 ml (at least in case of my cotton oil, because it varies from oil to oil) it seems that your cream has bigger water phase (50% not 40%, plus I’ve used panthenol, HA and glycerine and they thicken the mixture to some extent) but less wax (5% not 9%) and much less butter (15% of coconut instead of my 40% of thicker shea). I will try to mix something along these lines and only then experiment with adding moisturizers. Though I’m tempted to melt what I got and just add some liquid oil and lots of water 😀
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Lucinda,
Love your cream without emulsifier! I had lots of sensitivity and this cream is just what I needed. I made it tonight. It came out great!! if I want to change it to make less oily feeling, how do I go about change the the portion? I used main portion of the recipe without extras: Water, glycerin, grape-seed oil, coconut oil, beeswax.
I am so thankful and appreciate you sharing this with everyone. I am super grateful I landed on your site.
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Hi Addy,
It is challenging to get this cream less oily as the high oil content is what enables it to emulsify without using an emulsifier. You can either use one of the other recipes on the blog which have a higher water content and do use an emulsifier or, what I find works, is to apply this cream to slightly wet skin which makes it absorb much better. Hope that helps!
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I love your recipes and guides – thank you!! Would this be suitable to use as a cream cleanser?
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I think it might be a bit rich for some, depending on your skin type. I tend to use an oil or balm as a cleanser, i will have to share the recipe soon! Sometimes I just use simple virgin coconut oil and that works nicely. 🙂
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Holy cow!
Encouraging people to create creams or lotions (particularly to sell at markets) that incorporate water without responsibly advising that a suitable preservative is absolutely essential, is just begging for legal trouble.
The only ‘natural’ preservatives are cost prohibitive to the hobby crafter (grapefruit seed and rosemary extracts are NOT preservatives, they’re merely anti-oxidants).
Beeswax, I’m sorry to say, is NOT an emulsifier and you will find eventually that without an emulsifier in any product that incorporates water, sooner or later there will be separation, creating a most unattractive mucky mess, including the bugs that will surely take up residence in it.
Please do some research before encouraging people to do some incredibly irresponsible and potentially health-damaging things.
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Elsa,
It is quite apparent to me from your comment that you have not actually read this post or the introduction to it (the previous post). I cover quite clearly that grapefruit seed and rosemary extracts are anti-oxidants rather than preservatives in the wider sense. I also state that this cream has no emulsifier, which is funnily enough why it is called ‘How to make creams without emulsifiers’, but mention that beeswax has some very slight binding properties.
I also at no point recommend or encourage people sell this at markets without adding a preservative and quite clearly say I make this for friends and family only and would reassess the recipe if I decided to sell.
Please read before sharing such strong opinions with no actual basis.
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How long do you have to let the beeswax sit and cool before you start to add the waters?
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It will depend on the ambient temperature which is why I advise doing it by sight. Once it looks like the photo, opaque but still fluid it will be ready to go.
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Hi I am wondering if these creams would be too thick to be poured into a bottle and use a pump or dispenser to pour out? Also, my beeswax cools quickly and hardens creating clumps. So you have any experience using sunflower lecithin!
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Hi there, I think this cream would indeed be too thick to use with a pump dispenser but one of the other recipes I shared in this series should work well.
You could try mixing the beeswax when the water part is a little warmer to help stop it cooling so quickly? I haven’t used sunflower lecithin unfortunately no.
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Looking forward to giving this a try! I’ve made lip balm and mayonnaise, this sounds like a combination of the two! Quick question- how ugly does this leave the blender. I.e. If I use my husband’s brand new Vitamix that he makes his smoothies with, am I going to have to sleep on the couch?
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The trick is to wipe as much as you can out with paper kitchen towels and then add very hot, just off the boil, water and swish it round. Do that a couple of times and then you can wash it up as normal and it will be fine for food. And no couch for you! 🙂
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Hi Lucinda,
I came across this recipe while researching a cold-cream-like recipe but without borax. I have two questions for you:
1. Would this recipe work if I increase the total amount of oil+wax+butter, such that to exceed the amount of water in the recipe? In other words, I’d like to make water-in-oil cream, as opposed to oil-in-water cream (as this recipe seems to indicate — I may be wrong). I do my recipes in weight-percentages, so I’m not sure from your recipe, what weight-percentage is the total oil-phase.
2. Would this recipe work if I eliminate the solid oil such as coconut/cocoa butter and replace it entirely with liquid oil such as sweet almond oil?
In any case, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! I’ve read through all the comments, seems one thing in common is to mix both phases at about the same temperature. Your thoughts are appreciated, many thanks in advance.
Claire
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Hi Claire,
This recipe is more or less half and half oil and water, not quite but near enough. You can happily up the oil part but not the water part or it will separate. I haven’t tried it with only liquid oil but I imagine it would make the cream very runny if there was no butters to help it thicken. You would have to experiment with adding more beeswax to get the right consistency but as I haven’t made it that way myself I can’t give you any specific tips on how much to use. Sorry I can’t be more help!
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Im trying to make my own lotion for my wife for her eczema what ingredient can I substitute For borax to mix the water and oils together and do you happen to have a video on how to make lotion
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I don’t personally use borax in my creams. None of the recipes here use it so you could try any of them.
I don’t have any videos yet but it is something I would like to do in the future.
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I’m so please I have found your site. I have never made creams before but have wanted to for ages. I’ve spent ages trawling internet searching for info and recipes and now I’ve found you, I will look no further. I’m going to make some creams for Christmas presents. My sister has rosacea so after reading the comments and your notes, will do: rose water and lime blossom tea, apricot oil and hemp / rosehip, then rose oil, vit E, coconut oil and beeswax. Can you recommend anything different / else. THanks xx
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That sounds like a wonderful mix. Several people have reported great improvement in rosacea using a colloidal silver spray after cleansing their face and before moisturising so that might be something worth looking into as well as the cream. Good luck I hope it turns out beautifully for you! x
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I used this recipe to make a cream suitable for professional massage therapy sessions. First off… I absolutely love working with it! I’ve been a therapist for 13 years and this is one of the best creams I’ve used. Once I apply a fair amount (about 2-3 tsps) to my client’s skin (by bodily sections), I don’t need to apply much more. It feels wonderful on both their’s and my skin.
Now, the only problem is that after putting it in it’s storage jar, it separates as soon as I disturbed it, i.e. transferring portions to my travel jar.
This is what I did with your recipe:
200ml herbal infusion (green tea, comfrey & fresh garden sage)
50ml freshly pulped Aloe Vera
1tsp glycerin
100ml Grapeseed oil
75ml Avocado oil
25g beeswax
35g coconut oil
40g cocoa butter
i used a hand mixer, trickling the fluids into the wax and oil blend like making mayonnaise.
I did have to press/scrape the entire blend through a wire sieve with a wooden spoon afterwards though because the aloe vera pulp left bobbles like tapioca in the blend. Then I re-blended. so… maybe that caused the separation?
I saw in one of your comment responses that separation can be caused by too much heat… Can’t vouch whetherI did or didn’t heat to much.
Any suggestions as to why or what to look out for in my next batch would be much appreciated!
On a few other notes:
— do you know if citric acid words ok as a preservative?
— I’ve looked over the recipe for with emulsifying wax and see it takes more fluid to oil & wax. I *really* like the thickness of this recipe I’ve already done. Is there a way to keep the creamy thickness of this one and use the EW?
Ok now I think that’s it 😉
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Hi Dina,
In my experience separation only occurs when I have blended the waters too hot or when I have cooled the finished cream too quickly. It is really important that the waters be somewhere between room temperature and luke warm, not hot, when blended into the oils and also that the oils look like they do in the photo in the post, opaque and cooling yet still liquid enough to move around in the jug. Once the cream is made, leave it at room temperature until it is fully cooled as cooling it too fast in the fridge can cause separation. Other things you could try include upping the coconut oil and reducing the cocoa butter. Also i have never used a hand mixer for this recipe, only a high speed blender which might make the difference.
When I use a preservative in it I go with this one: http://www.aromantic.com/Home/Products/Preservatives/Preservative-Eco
The emulsifying wax cream has a very different feel, much less rich. I haven’t used the emulsifying wax with this recipe, my feeling is that it wouldn’t work too well as it is quite thickening and has its own texture.
Hope that helps, sorry i can’t be more specific on the emulsifying wax question.
All the best. x
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WOW! Thank you so much for this recipe, I just finished making it and I’m over the moon. Rich, creamy, soothing, it’s so amazing I don’t want to waste a drop. I can’t wait to give it to everyone I know and get their feedback. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you ❤
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So glad you love it! Thanks for letting me know. x
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WOW! Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been looking for a creamy cream without added chemicals and preservatives, finally gave up and decided I would need to make my own. I’ve made creams with just oils but they’re always so heavy. I was worried this would be really complicated but it was so easy!! I just finished making it, it’s so creamy, soothing and rich I seriously don’t want to waste a drop. I’ve decided to give it to everyone I know for Christmas and get their feedback. I can’t thank you enough for sharing, such an amazing treat!
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Hi there… wondering if my comment actually went through? I received and email to confirm but it still says above that my comment is awaiting moderation…
I’m getting close to needing to make another batch 🙂
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Yes my apologies for the late reply!
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Could you provide more specific information on the herbal infusion parts of the recipe – exactly what types of herbs, how much, etc – I haven’t tried to use or make an infusion before but am interested in doing this.
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Hi Yvonne,
Herbal infusions are a whole blog post in themselves! I will try to write one soon. Until then there is great info on how to make infusions here:
http://teacupchronicles.com/?p=18
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I’m going to make this today, looks great. If infusing,would you infuse the carrier oil or water? Does it depend on what you’re using to infuse? I want to use chamomile. Thanks!
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Yes it does depend to some extent on what you want to infuse, some herbs have constituents that are better infused into oils and others into water. Chamomile is great in both however so don’t worry, I have made this recipe successfully with chamomile infusion and oil. If you go with a water infusion do make sure it is a nice strong one.
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I was trying to find the Q & A for this item. Can you use this for your hair? I CANNOT find an all natural creamy product for my hair. Please help. Thank you 😄
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I haven’t used this on hair, I think it would be too rich. Have you tried using coconut oil? What are you using it for, moisturising or styling?
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Hello Lucinda, would wheatgerm oil and vitamin E not be enough of a preservative? Wheatgerm oil lasts for years without going rancid, I add about 10% to my oil blends( I am an aromatherapist) when I want them to last a longer time. I’m very pleaded to have found your site and will read more with interest when I have time.
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Hi Diane,
Thanks for your comment. Wheatgerm and vitamin E are wonderful anti-oxidants so they prevent other oils from going rancid but they are not preservatives in the sense of inhibiting bacterial and fungal growth. This is fine for products which just contain oils but when you introduce water, as when making a cream, bacteria will start to proliferate with time and an anti-oxidant wouldn’t be able to prevent this.
I hope that makes sense and is helpful.
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Dear Lucinda,
thank you for the recipe. Just made a small batch and it turned out great!
I was looking for an aloe vera cream when I found your post.
I love it and will continue making it for myself and possibly friends and family.
Monica
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Hi Lucinda,
Thank you so much for this recipe, I’m gonna try it very soon! I’m trying to find a cream that would really help my ultra dry skin, eczema prone..
I just have a question: do you use a different blender or do you use your kitchen blender? Is it easy to clean after?
Thanks,
Fra
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Hi,
I use my kitchen blender if the cream is just for myself and friends or family. To clean it wipe it out really well with kitchen towels to get all the oil out. Then add very hot water and rinse a few times, then wash with washing up liquid as usual. Wiping the oils out first is the key to making it easy to clean!
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I’m soooo anxious to try this recipe!
Goinh to try substituting floral wax for beeswax and using rose hydrosol cuz my mum absolutely loves the smell of roses ❤
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I’m not allowed aloe so what can replace it
I’m also not allowed any body butters only natural oils
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One more question, can i use just aloe vera juice 250 ml instead of the water infusions to save me time? which kind of tea infusions are best for dry skin? Also my vitamin e i just checked and it has sunflower oil in it… i hope thats ok still or is it not pure enough? thanks 🙂
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Yes you can use aloe juice, preferably inner leaf. Herbs such as chamomile, lime blossom and calendula are nice on dry skins.
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instead of the “75g Coconut oil (or a mixture of coconut and cacao)”
Can I use 75 grams of shea butter? Or is that too much and won’t soak into the face? I don’t really want to use coconut oil as it is level 5 in comodogenicness. Thanks
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I find the lighter consistency of coconut works better but I haven’t tried it with straight shea butter to give you a definitive answer. You could give it a try and if it is too rich then just use a small amount massaged onto wet skin which will lighten it.
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Nice recipe but it still has an emulsifier..Beeswax!!! An emulsifier is the substance which binds oil with water. So, this resipe is definitely with an emulsifier.
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Lucinda – Thank you so very much for this wonderful body/face cream recipe. I have just made it and it’s wonderful!
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So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
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Hi Lucinda, I just came across your page after an exhaustive google search for a calendula-chamomile baby lotion & I must say the search was worth it 🙂 Just a quick question, Do you recommend the same recipe for the my 1 year old baby or shall I add/drop any other ingredients to make it more milder & effective?I having doubts about the aloe vera gel which I got from Holland&Baratts & says it only 99.9% natural. Also where do you get your herb supplies here in UK?
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Hi Pooja,
This recipe is fine for a one year old apart from potentially the essential oil content. For little ones you need to stick to very gentle oils, chamomile would be fine, and at a dilution of 0.5% or less (which is the amount in this recipe). There is probably a preservative in your aloe gel but, as it only makes up a small amount of this recipe, it will be a tiny proportion of the final cream so I probably wouldn’t worry too much. I get herbal supplies from several companies but Just Ingredients are good for dried herbs and Tree Harvest for base oils, coconut etc. Materia Aromatica do nice essential oils. Hope that helps!
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Thank you so much for your help Lucinda. Do you have any recipies for a gentle baby body wash, also a herbs based shampoo for problem hair (grey hair to be exact)? If yes I would love to get them 🙂 thank you so much one again.
P
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I’m sorry but I don’t tend to make much in the way of soap based products. You should find some recipes here though:
http://www.aromantic.co.uk/skin-care-information/recipes.aspx
Hope that is helpful to you! x
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Hello, my question is whether this cream could be used during daytime since it has oils and might cause brown sun spots under the sun especially in summer time. Second question how long does it last in hot weather without going rancid and microbic? Thanks
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I did try a similar version of this cream which was ok on my normal skin but my husband found it greasy on his oily skin. So I am going to try grape seed oil version of this recipe soon, it’s much lighter I have heard. Hope this helps 🙂
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One more question: how can I modify this recipe (add or exract anything) for combination, oily and dry skins? Or is this recipe good for all skin types? Thanks a lot!
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we can even aad citrus as antioxidant so even it will be natural na or it will have some stability problem
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Lucinda,
I tried making your recipe yesterday, using a mix of oils and herbal infused water. It turned out well, but I must say it feels heavy on the skin due to the large amount of beeswax. It would be excellent as winter protection, but would never do to put on my face.
I realized the amount of beeswax is necessary to achieve binding with the mechanical emulsion method, but do you think that if I were to decrease the water, I could also decrease the wax? This would result in a richer, but less waxy lotion. I thought about cutting both the waters and the beeswax in half.
Thanks to you and all the commenters for helping to clear up the different kinds of emulsification and why they work. I make skin care products but have not yet found a lotion recipe that I like well enough to sell. I’m hopeful after trying yours. I love your blog!
Ashley
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Thanks Ashley,
I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried this method myself but theoretically, the lower the water content the less beeswax you would need.
I use this moisturiser on my face every day and love it but I definitely find rubbing it onto damp skin is the key to it not feeling too heavy. If you live in a warm climate however I can imagine it would be too much!
Let me know hoe you get on with the adjusted quantities.
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Hi thank you so much for this recipe. I made the cream with less beeswax so it was a little bit runny but it was still great. I love it.
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I also wanted to know whether I could substitute the beeswax for Shea butter as I’m using it on my hair and beeswax can cause buildup.
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Hi Khadijah,
It’s worth a try but I think it might separate more readily without the beeswax. Also shea butter can become quite granular unless it is heated for a while so be aware it might need longer preparing.
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Hi, I’ve made several batches just like this. But lately mine are not binding properly and I’m not sure why?? I may be adding my water portions too quickly. If you shake the jars they seem to become silky again. But it’s getting frustrating!! The last 3 batches have been like this. And how do you get the cocoa butter to be less grainy?
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Hi Tina,
I find the cause for this cream separating is nearly always that the waters or the oils are too hot. I tend to use coconut oil which doesn’t go grainy like shea and cocoa butter can. They need to be heated really thoroughly to avoid this happening.
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Hi Lucinda, would like to enquire if your the cream that you make without the emulsifier can be utilised as a face cream and will it work for any type skin?
Like this recipe a lot cannot wait to make it!
Regards, Hilda
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Hi Hilda,
I use it as a face cream and love it but I imagine some people would find it too rich, especially those with oily skin. I always apply it on damp skin after washing and find that helps it sink in and even though it feels very rich on applying I don’t find it leaves an oily residue after a few minutes.
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Hi,
Is it possible to use regular filtered water?
Thanks,
Ariane
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Yes you can but it might have a shorter shelf life.
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Hello Lucinda
Thank you for the recipe. It looks fantastic! I have a newbie question here: You mentioned: ‘Melt your beeswax and butters in a bain marie or double boiler,…’. What do you mean ‘butters’ here? Same as oils? I couldn’t find any ‘butter’ on your ingredient list. Shea butter for example? What would be the percentage/ratio?
I am sure this cream will help my ultra sensitive skin. Thanks again!!
Nat
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Sorry for the confusion. I meant the coconut oil (sometimes called butter) and any cacao butter or shea butter if you happen to be using it.
I hope the cream is helpful for you. 🙂
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Am I the only man to have ever read this page?
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Hi Lucinda,
I used pure vegetable glycerin to preserve make my herbal extracts. but i have not been able to get the glycerin and beeswax to integrate. what can i do?
thanks! jorja
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At what stage are you mixing them? The glycerine goes in the water part and the beeswax in the oil part so they don’t mix until they are blended with all the other ingredients. Is that what you are doing at the moment? If so is it the whole thing that is separating?
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Hi I am new to making my own lotions and have a few questions. Is it possible to use almond milk instead of a water? What do you think the estimated shelf life would be, and alternately what would happen if I mixed some aloe Vera gel with the milk using the same proportions you mentioned for the waters? Your recipes are inspiring! Thank you!
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I think almond milk would be a lovely addition but it would shorten the shelf life. I think in this case I would use a preservative like the ones I mention in the introductory post. I’m sure it will make a delicious cream though!
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How can I thicken my cream up, I followed the recipe but it’s too runny? I must have done something wrong. The proportions were right so maybe my technique. Can I add something to to thicken a little?
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Hi there,
Did you add enough beeswax? And was your coconut oil solid rather than fractionated (in liquid form?) Those are the most obvious things that would make it too runny. How does it seem? Like a milk or cream consistency? I haven’t ever had this problem with it so I’m not sure what exactly might have happened.
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It’s like cream rather than milk, the coconut oil was solid form, I don’t think it was fractionated. Do you have any ideas for fixing it as I don’t want to chuck away these lovely ingredients?
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I sell salve called PainDrain and it has a higher essential oil content than your cream it I have found rosemary and benzoin oleoresin with a percentage of rice bran oil (v high vitamin e content) raw quality coconut oil and apple cider vinegar and unadulterated honey all add their antibacterial action. I am making huge jars this time so have decided to add optiphen preservative. Here we are ensuring that if someone contaminates the jar that the preservative prevents microbial growth in the product.
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Hi Lucinda, This looks beautiful, I am looking forward to making it! I live in the US, just wondering if you might be able to help with the conversions?
Thank You
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Hi Amy,
I usually use an online conversion chart when I have to go from grams to lbs or vice versa. Try one like this:
http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/weight/gram-to-pound.htm
Otherwise if you just type into google ‘100g in lbs’ it will give you the answer!
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Hi Lucinda,
Just wondering if the addition of a little raw honey would help with extending the shelf life of this lovely cream?
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Hi Lynne,
Yes it might extend it a little but because of the water content it would really need a preservative to last longer than a couple of months unfortunately.
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H Lucinda! I’m fairly new to this DIY skincare, I’ve made mask etc before but nothing that requires heat. My question is, can I change beeswax to rose floral wax? Have you ever use those? Will it smells like rose? Thank you!
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Hi Rivani,
I haven’t ever used rose floral wax in this recipe so I can’t say for sure how it would work but it is definitely worth a try and would give a lovely result. The only thing I would be concerned about is that it might not emulsify quite as well. I will have to try this out soon and report back!
Sorry I can’t be more help.
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Heya!
Just wondering, is there anything else I can use other than beeswax?
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Hi Zara,
You can try a vegetable wax like candelilla or carnuba.
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Hi, this is the best hand cream recipe I have seen. I made a batch and it was beautiful, creamy just like your photo and it makes my hands feel so soft. However the day after I made it the cream began to separate. I usually infuse my herbs in alcohol instead of oil and I used feverfew infused alcohol as the waters in this recipe, I also used sweet almond oil and beeswax with calendula essence. I stirred the cream after it separated and poured off the liquid, now it is lovely and creamy again. Do you think it was the alcohol that caused the seperation and I would be better off using herb infused oil instead?
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Hi Debbie,
I have only used a small percentage of alcohol in this recipe which has been fine but the higher proportion might well contribute to it separating. The other most likely thing is that the temperatures are off. Was the oil part cooling and opaque like in the pictures? And what temperature were your waters?
Also don’t put it in the fridge until it has completely set. I leave it out the first night to be sure.
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Hi Lucinda thanks for a great post! I’m about to make this tomorrow and want to use fresh aloe from my garden, what would be the best way to do that? Add 50ml or 1/4C fresh aloe gel to the 200ml of water to make up the 250ml water content or add it after as an extra with the vitamin E oil like you suggest in your chamomile calendula cream? I’m also going to add my homeopathic calendula and silicea to the water. Thanks again
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Hi Ellessa,
I would recommend using 50ml aloe vera with 200ml water to make up the 250ml. If you add it at the end I think it will increase the water content of the cream too much and it will be more likely to separate.
Your recipe sounds lovely!
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I strongly recommend that you read this and take it very seriously. Thank you.
http://www.schoolofnaturalskincare.com/do-you-need-to-use-preservatives-homemade-natural-skincare-products/
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Thanks for your concern Michelle.
I cover the use of preservatives in the first part of this post here:
The posts were meant to be read as a series.
Best wishes.
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Dear Lucinda, I just wanted to say thank you for posting this wonderful cream recipe! My young son suffers quite badly from eczema and I was desperate to find a natural alternative to the synthetic emollients that didn’t seem to be doing much good. The pure natural butter/oil balms I had tried didn’t really sink into his skin, leaving him greasy but still with dry skin. Then I came across your recipe (I knew I wanted to try something with beeswax…) and I have to say it has worked wonders – his skin is much calmer and softer than it has been in a long time!
I am cautious about the shelf life of the cream as I did not use a preservative, but plan to make a new batch each month, so hopefully there won’t be any problems. Thanks again 🙂
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Hi Lily,
Thanks so much for letting me know and I’m so glad it is helping.
The cream should reliably last for a month as long as you don’t leave it in full sum or in a particularly warm place.
I hope you continue to see improvements and best wishes to you and your son.
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How much preservative would you use for this recipe?
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It depends on the preservative you are using. It should give precise percentages on the bottle. The one i use is about 0.5-1% of the total but it will also depend on whether you have used herbal infusions in your cream.
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Hi! Do you think you could make this without the beeswax or coconut oil – even if it’s more like a lotion than a cream? I want to make hair conditioner 😀
Is it possible to emulsify with just oil and water?
Thanks
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I don’t think it would stay mixed with just oils and water unfortunately, you’d need an emulsifier as well.
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This is awesome!! I applaud you on your detailed research and respectful, thoughtful comments to those that left a reply or had a question. One of the best recipes around!!! ☺
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Thank you Cheryl. 🙂
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Hello Lucinda, I’ll have all the ingredients for this recipe in a couple of days and I’m really looking forward to making this cream, I’m certain that my skin will love it!
The only thing I’ve wanted to ask you is about herbal infusion for the cream – somewhere I read that those can only last around 36 hours…do I have to use distilled water to make it for the cream or will vitamin E and refrigerator stop it, the tap water, from making the cream go bad?
The answer and any advice you may have will be greatly appreciated!
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Hi John, sorry this is such a delayed reply, did you make your cream in the end?
I use spring water to make my teas for the cream and haven’t had a problem with it lasting a couple of months. If the tea was on it’s own it would go off after a few days. If you are worried then do use a preservative. In part 1 of the cream making series I talk about preservatives and which ones I recommend if using.
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Hi,
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I have one question. As it uses bees wax, is it gonna ruins my blender? I heard it’a very difficult to wash off the beeswax?
Chloe
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I don’t find it problematic as the beeswax blends into the cream so it’s just a case of cleaning out the cream. The best way to do it is by wiping out the residue with kitchen paper then using hot water and washing up liquid to clean.
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Hi, not sure if anyone had this issue, bu I made this cream and it was beautiful for the first day, but next morning I found that water separated from the oils… 😦 Is it normal? What do I do to avoid it?
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I made this recipe recently, with a few little adjustments. I used half aloe vera gel, half water. My oil was sweet almond, and I used some shea butter as well as coconut oil. I go through quite a lot so made 4x this recipe. I was so surprised how easy it was, and it turned out perfectly. I was expecting to have to bother with emulsifiers and such things so was delighted to find a recipe that doesn’t need it. Thanks so much!
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Gosh, I want to stick my finger in that jar and taste it 🙂
Question: what gave your cream that beautiful color?
I’m doing this tomorrow and if it comes out white, that’s fine too. Can’t wait to try it and thank you so much for taking the time to post it.
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Thanks so much, I have been looking for this recipe in grams.
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